


600ft of Christmas Lights

by Shootmewithasilverbullet



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Also sumo!, But he really likea Connor so, Christmas Decorating, Christmas Shopping, Christmas fic!, Convin secret Santa gift!, Fluffy happy shit, Gavin actually cannot say no, Gavin hates Christmas, M/M, When an android wants something, You don't say no, so much chaos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 16:40:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shootmewithasilverbullet/pseuds/Shootmewithasilverbullet
Summary: Hank has to go, leaving Connor alone for Christmas and Gavin can't stand it so he volunteers to help make Connors Christmas at least a little better.





	600ft of Christmas Lights

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading!  
> This is my contribution to the Convin Secret Santa on Tumblr! This peice of for the wonderful [Sevanadium](https://sevanadium.tumblr.com/)!  
> who prompted 'Holiday themed fluff with Connor and either Hank or Gavin' 
> 
> Hopefully, you'll enjoy this disaster as much as I enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> Happy holidays friends!!

"I'm really sorry Connor-" 

Those were words you didn't hear every day, especially not from the Lieutenant, and especially not directed at the DPDs own walking talking Tin-Can. Gavin wasn't at all interested in what sort of lovers quarrel those two were having. Not at all. 

Maybe a little. 

Alright, a lot. 

Gavin leaned forward against his desk, phone out, solitaire game halfway done, and he listened. No shame at all. It wasn't his fault they were bitching in the middle of the bullpen. It was a public place. He wasn't eavesdropping, he was being forced to listen. 

"-I know I promised the whole Christmas thing, but I can't get outta this." 

Hank actually sounded pretty upset about whatever he was apologizing for. That was new. Gavin hadn't thought Hank could actually be upset about anything. 

"It's okay, Hank. What you're doing is more important than one holiday. I'll be fine, there's a lot to do in Detroit on Christmas, and there's always next year." 

Hank grumbled something - growls and swears and Gavin couldn't make out what the words were supposed to be, but he was less interested in Hanks unintelligent bitching, and more interested in the realization of just where Hank was going. Fucking /Hank Anderson/ had gotten the go ahead on the fucking New York case when Gavin had been pinning for it since it had first come to the precinct. That was Fowler playing fucking favourites again, this was bullshit. 

"I fucking hate New York though." 

There it was. Fuck. How was that fair? Send the guy who doesn't want to go, ignore the guy who DOES want to go. Gavin leaned back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest and he glared across the room, hoping that Anderson felt just how pissed off he was right now. 

Connor smiled in light of Hanks annoyance and Gavin's own anger fizzled out pretty quickly. Dumb android. 

"Think of it as a way to make you appreciate Detroit even more." 

"I fucking hate Detroit, too." 

Gavin tuned them out, not wanting to have to listen to the constant bitching that was Hank Anderson and his pretty little android sidekick with the positive attitude. 

Days passed and Gavin was still bitter about the whole thing. He hated Christmas and going to New York to liason with the NYPD would have been a great distraction for him during the shittiest time of the year but Fowler had to go and ruin that by picking Hank. Who the fuck in their right mind would pick Hank to go to New York? Every time he thought about it, Gavin just got even pissier about the whole thing. 

It was so unfair. 

The day came for Hank to leave, and Gavin was so glad to see the asshole go. Good riddence. Maybe Gavin could have a mini vacation without Hank Fucking Anderson lumbering around the bullpen bitching about everything, with his sentient toaster oven following him around like a love sick puppy. It would be a holiday for everyone who was forced to see that display every fucken day. 

Nothing changed without Hank around. Worked continued as it should, the world had not tilted onto an unfamiliar axis. Idiots got arrested just like every other day, and the only thing Gavin noticed that was out of place was Connor. He wasn't moping, that would have been unbearable to see, he was just... Off. Could androids have that little personality tick that let people know they weren't totally okay? It was weird, but Gavin could see it and fuck. 

He was playing minesweeper on his phone, watching Connor putter around the office like he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. Fowler hadn't reassigned him while Hank was gone, and there really wasn't a lot of work to go around right now. The android was probably about as bored as Gavin was. Was he really that fucken upset without Anderson around? 

For the 5824th time today, Gavin lost his minesweeper game because his attention was elsewhere. Honestly why did he care so much about whether or not the Tin-Can was upset? It wasn't Gavin's job to check up on Connor. It wasn't. They weren't even friends! Less hostile, yeah a bit, but only because Gavin had begrudgingly admitted that his prejudice was bullshit and had pulled his own head outta his ass. That was it. He wasn't responsible for checking up on Hank's mechanical boyfriend. 

Just thinking about that left a nasty taste in his mouth. 

God, he was going to do it, wasn't he. 

Losing game five hundred and eighty five of minesweeper, Gavin tucked his phone into his pocket and started wheeling his chair up the bullpen, propelling the chair forward with his feet until he came to a stop beside Connors desk. "Hey. Toaster-oven." 

"Detective?" 

Gavin ignored the surprise on Connors face, instead focusing on the little green plants the android had all over his desk. "So. How you holding up without Lieutenant Dickhead around?" 

"I'm fine, thank you. I don't understand why everyone seems to think I'll fall apart without Hank. I'm perfectly capable of functioning without him." Connor was annoyed, and Gavin thought that was hilarious, and couldn't stop himself from smiling just a little bit. 

"So? What've you been doing while Andersons been gone?" he didn't care, perse, he just wanted to prove a point. 

Connor looked away. "Nothing that concerns you, Detective." 

"So absolutely nothing. At all." Gavin waited, but Connor didn't correct him. "Oh my God this is so sad. I thought this whole Christmas bullshit was your thing. You're not going to enjoy the holiday because Hanks out of state? That's fucking sad, Connor. Even for you." 

The android frowned, brown eyes finally focusing on Gavin's own. "Why are you suddenly interested in what I'm doing, Detective Reed?" 

And that's how Gavin's plan backfired. So badly. Because he wasn't interested. He wasn't. 

Maybe just a little. 

"I /don't/ care. I just..." Like hell he was going to tell Connor he was just slightly concerned, so he started rolling his chair back down the bullpen, back towards his own desk. "Fucken bye then." 

Friday rolled around pretty quick and most of the precinct was just buzzing with holiday cheer. Everyone with the time off was anxious to leave, and everyone was talking about their different plans and Gavin was so tired of listening to it. The only thing that kept him remotely occupied in the midst of all the festive madness was watching Connor light up when someone went into detail about their traditions with him, answering whatever question he had, and then the sadness that fell over him when he thought no one was looking.

Good damn that was one sad android. Why was he always left to clean up Hank's fucking messes? 

It wasn't quite 5 o'clock yet but Gavin got up anyway, tugging on his pullover and slipping into his jacket because it was fucking freezing in Detroit this time of year, and he heading towards Connors occupied desk. A junior officer was smiling at him and had just said something about a Christmas tree, but the conversation died and the officer immediately started to shy away from the androids desk when she noticed Gavin approached. Honestly how bad was his reputation around this hellhole? 

"Well, have a good holiday, Connor!" she waved quick, ending whatever conversation they were having before turning around and leaving the android slightly disappointed in her wake. 

Connor sighed and didn't bother even looking at Gavin. "What can I do for you, Detective?" 

"Come on, get up. Let's go." 

That, earned Connors full attention. The android turned in his chair, taking note of Gavin's outdoor clothing and his LED cycled from blue to yellow. "Go where?" it was the genuine confusion that Gavin had been hoping for. 

Gavin could see that there was interest peeking in the android, that Connor was curious, and that made him grin. "Less talking more moving." he gave the base of Connors chair a light kick to get him to hurry up. "I'm tired of seeing you mope around the station."

Even deviant as he was, Connor still followed instructions pretty well. He stood up, LED still blinking yellow, and followed after Gavin when he started to leave. "Detective-" 

"What?" 

Connor hesitated and Gavin could almost hear the processors in his head as he considered his options. It was only a few second before Connor shook his head. "Never mind. Please continue." 

"That's what I fucken thought." Gavin lead the way outside into the snow and cold frigid air of late December, straight to his car before Connor stopped and hesitated again. " _Connor._ "

"I dont understand where we're going. Considering we've never gone anyplace together prior to this, you understand my hesitation." 

Well, he had a point there. Gavin leaned against the side of his car and watched the android a moment, watched his LED sit in a solid cautious yellow state with no sign of changing. Connor wasn't so much fidgeting, but he did look a little uncomfortable and it made Gavin laugh a little because it was kinda cute. "You can knock me on my ass in four moves or less and you're nervous right now?" 

Connor huffed out a puff of cold air, annoyed, and looked away but Gavin caught the faintest blue tint to his cheeks and fuck if that wasn't a victory. 

"I apologized for that already." Connors mumble was quiet enough that Gavin almost didn't hear it. 

"I know, I'm only saying. It's kinda stupid to get nervous when you can actually fuck me up pretty good."

"Detective," And Connor sounded completely done with him now, which was very amusing to Gavin because Connor normally had a plethora of patience for everyone. "where are we going?" 

Well, the gig was up. As much as Gavin was enjoying the back and forth and how utterly irritated Connor was getting, he really didn't want to push his luck. "To your place. Since you're not gonna fucken do it on your own, I'm gonna be the nice guy that I am and help you get back the Christmas spirit you lost when your fucken old man left for New York." 

Silence. Connors LED spun yellow before it settled on blue and for the first time in the last few days, Connor actually smiled at him, and Gavin immediately ducked into his car because that fucked him up something bad. The android didn't waste any time getting into the passengers seat of Gavin's car, buckling his seatbelt in record time. 

"You want to decorate with me?" 

"I want you to stop moping around the precinct," Gavin started the car and shifted it into drive, "so I guess that's the same thing." 

It was interesting how Connors mood changed in the blink of an eye and it'd be a lie of Gavin said he didn't like it. He shouldn't but he did. 

"Thank you. That's actually very kind of you, Detective. To be quite honest I wasn't able to figure out where to even start." 

Gavin glanced to the side, watching the android curiously for a second before turning onto the road and focusing ahead. "Why? This isn't your first Christmas." 

"No..." Connor hesitated, staring out the passenger side window. "But Hank was always around, and he always started the process. It's embarrassing to say that I'm really not sure exactly what to do." 

"Right." Gavin rolled his eyes. Of course, every road lead back to Hank. He didn't even want to think about why that pissed him off so much. "you know," He glanced back towards the android. "I'll help you decorate and it'll be a hundred fucking times better than any boring shit Hank could come up with." 

And Connor laughed. "I don't think Christmas is meant to be a competition." 

Fuck. If making this stupid holiday a competition made Connor laugh, it was going to be the best competition Gavin had ever competed in. He cleared his throat, keeping focused on the road. "Well it is now." 

It was easy enough to navigate the streets of Detroit to get to Hanks house, where Connor still lived, and Gavin parked in front of the garage and ignored how awkward it felt just being there. Never in a million years had he thought he'd be inside the Lieutenants house, without him actually being there. Gavin only remembered that Hank had a dog when Connor unlocked the front door and the loud, deep WOOF sounded from inside, making him hesitate. 

Connor lead the way inside, and to Gavin's surprise, there was no big dog jumping at the door like he expected. The dog - a huge St. Bernard, was laying by the couch, alert but not bothered enough to actually get up. Connor went to the pooch immediately, kneeling down and petting him all over while Gavin toed off his boots, watching. Everyone knew Connor liked dogs. All animals, really, and he talked about this one about as much as anyone could stand but actually seeing the android and the dog together.... 

"That's a disgusting amount of affection for one animal." 

Connor turned, just enough so he could keep petting the dog but could also see Gavin still standing at the door. "Did you want to come and pet him, Detective? Sumo is a very, very good boy. He wouldn't bite you."

Instantly, Gavin had his hands up, refusing the invitation to get anywhere near the dog. "Oh no." he was not a dog person. Cats he could love all fucken day long, but dogs? Dogs drooled and slobbered and jumped and barked and were altogether too much and that wasn't for him. "I'll pass."

There wasn't much of a chance to look around the living room, but Gavin did manage to see a lot that reminded him of Hank, and a scattered few things that probably belonged to Connor. It was a weird homey feeling that made him want to gag. Who in their right mind would want to get this close to drunken Anderson? 

Connor stood up, finally done petting the giant dog and his attention focused on Gavin again. "We should get started." and then he waited. 

Gavin had to hesitate a minute because he wasn't sure what Connor was waiting for and after a few moments passed where neither of them moved, he cleared his throat. "Okay? Where's all the shit?"

"Of course! It was all packed up at the end of last season. I believe Hank stored it all in the garage." Connor took the lead, heading to the side door that opened into the garage, and he immediately went for a corner full of big plastic boxes. Gavin didn't have to do anything, he just leaned against the doorframe and watched Connor pull three of the boxes out of the pile and move them to the center of the room, then started pointing at them. "This one contains the lights and these two are baubles and other decor. I still have to locate the tree, as it isn't where I anticipated." 

"Seriously, tell me again why you need help with this? Seems to me like you got it all figured out already."

Connor ignored the question "Besides the tree." he turned his back and was attempting to sift between a couple boxes that had been stored up high, high enough that he had to tippy-toe it, and reach up as far as he could. It was hard not to acknowledge and appreciate the androids form, especially from Gavin's current angle. Long back and legs, and the Detective actually shifted on the spot suddenly uncomfortable. Connor kept searching, before finally giving up and turning back around. The androids doe brown eyes focused on the boxes ahead of him, like he was suddenly unsure what to do. 

Gavin pushed off the doorframe and took the few steps forward, grabbing the box that supposedly held the Christmas lights, honestly glad to have something to do beside hyper focus on the android he was supposed to be helping. "I guess I'll tackle this one. Can you manage those two?" 

"Of course." 

One, two, three boxes full of Christmas shit finally made it into the living room and low and behold, the disaster they found upon opening them. 

"Fucken Hank, seriously." 

So much for this being fucking easy. Gavin reached into the box full of lights and pulled out one giant knotted mess that he couldn't make heads or tails of. There were colourful balls mixed into the box too, and some of those were hanging off the lights. At this very moment, Gavin Reed had never hated Hank Anderson more. The two other boxes weren't in much better shape, except they didn't have any lights in them.

"You let Hank pack this shit up all by himself?" 

Because it was trademark Hank in all three boxes. Shit thrown in without a thought, the lights rolled and bunched up and buried until next year. Old man hadn't even given any thought to what he was going to have to go through when he opened these boxes again and now it was Gavin's fucking problem. Hank wasn't even here and he was pissing Gavin off. 

Connor crouched beside one box and pulled a wooden nutcracker soldier out of it, examining it front and back in his hand. "I was working a case and couldn't assist..." setting the statue down, he gave the other boxes a brief look over before frowning. "It seems as though I should have taken the extra time to help."

"No fucking shit." 

Pulling the entire nest of Christmas lights out of the box was an ordeal on its own. It was like one giant knot, to the point where Gavin didn't even know how this happened by accident. It didn't look like there were any plugs in the heavy mass of colourful lights, and after trying to look the heavy mass over in his arms, he dropped it and sat down on the ground in front of it. Fuck Hank, and his entire family line. 

Connor was quiet beside him, pulling a few items out at a time, looking them over before setting them aside and diving back in for different items. 

The house was quiet besides the mumbled cussing Gavin was doing, and it took a total of two minutes before the many strings of lights started wearing on him. They were still tangled, and nothing he did seemed to get them anywhere near being untangle, and he was ready to throw the whole batch out the fucking window when _it_ started. Gavin froze, the opening jingle to 'Last Christmas' playing through the room. As soon as the vocals started Gavin turned, and there Connor was, standing by the record player looking absolutely pleased with himself. 

"I just found the record mixed in with the rest of the Christmas decorations." he said that like it was a victory. 

Gavin dropped the lights he was holding. "Connor, no." this was too much. He hadn't signed up for a full on Christmas caroling adventure. The music had to go or he was going to go. 

And then Connor pouted, his sad stare dropping to the floor and Gavin did not expect to feel the full weight of that sadness like it was crushing his fucking soul. 

"Okay! Christ, play the fucking Christmas music!" he rubbed his hands over his face, utterly confused and distraught. What the hell was wrong with him? This was a very accurate depiction of his own personal hell: unending tangled lights, Christmas carols, Hank Andersons house. The only good thing was that Hank himself wasn't actually here, and he'd rather deal with all of that if it meant not seeing Connor upset anymore. He'd panicked as soon as the android had gotten remotely sad about not being able to enjoy the music and he couldn't have that. 

"Are you sure, Detective?" 

"Yeah, fuck. Play all the carols you want." he was going to regret this so much. "And stop calling me that, we ain't at work." 

The android sat back down between his two boxes, smiling a little to himself and Gavin was maybe a little bit glad that he could keep Connor happy, even if it meant sacrificing his own sanity. 

Four songs later and Gavin was still untangling lights while humming the lyrics to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. There was no end in sight, no pattern, no order to this giant ball of wires and he was getting very, very frustrated with the whole thing, but, he had managed to pull a plug out from the mess, which meant that he could at least see if these fucking things worked. 

"Connor." he waved the plug in the air for the android to see, and Connor lit up instandly "I need a plug to test out these bad boys." 

"Here-" Connor held out his hand as he scooted toward the side table by the couch. Gavin tossed him the plug and Connor went to plug it in, hesitating a moment. "Ready?" 

"Fucken do it already." 

He plug hit the outlet and Gavin watched the lights flicker to life, all different kinds of bright colours mangled in a tight mess that he still hadn't managed to sort out. They worked though. 

"Well, this is good." it was a relief to say the least. Except... Gavin frowned, wrinkling his nose. "Is something burning?" 

The lights flickered out quickly, Connor having pulled the plug from the wall. There was smoke coming from the outlet. Scratch that, they didn't work. 

Connor frowned, staring at the massive ball of tangled lights. "My scans show a short in the wires." 

Gavin groaned, laying back so his head hit the floor. Fucking figures. "Fuck. Of fucking course. Hank can't have fucking new shit he's gotta reuse shit from 1978 like for fucks sake Anderson it's 2040 what the fuck are you doing." he didn't even have to be watching Connor to know the android was smiling. "What?" 

"What do you suggest we do? If the lights don't work... And we require lights because they're the best part apart from the tree. And speaking of trees, we still haven't found the one Hank put away from last year." 

Which only meant one thing. 

The first few verses to 'Baby it's cold outside' started and Gavin let out a long sigh. "I guess we're going shopping." 

Back in the car, Connor didnt waste any time taking over the radio station, setting it to the one playing the most holiday classics and Gavin wanted to scream, but the android was so absolutely content listening to it that Gavin couldn't say a word about it. Suck it up, Reed, this was your life now. 

Connor humming the songs that played over the radio was actually better than listening to the songs themselves, and when they finally pulled into the Target parking lot, Gavin was surprised that he immediately missed the sound. There wasn't time to dwell on that though, because Connor was grinning so bright, it was plain to see how excited he was. 

"What, you never seen a Target before?" 

"No. Well. Yes I have, but only from the outside. Hank doesn't let me go shopping with him unless it's for groceries."

What the hell? "Are you fucking serious?" Gavin frowned, climbing out of the car and slamming the door shut. We'll, he was already winning this fucking contest because 1) Hank didn't take the poor android fucking Christmas shopping, which was no surprise because Hank's shit was from 1880.

"Why would I lie? He says that I get too carried away in the store." 

Gavin snorted, head shaking. "Well fuck Hank. You get whatever Christmasey bullshit your little android heart wants." and Connor smiled so brightly, it was fucking perfect. How the hell could Hank actually say no to Connor when he was this happy about something as stupid as going shopping for Christmas supplies? 

Connor continued to smile as they walked across the parking lot, a happy spring in his step. "Thank you, Detective. I understand that Christmas isn't your favourite holiday, but your company is much appreciated." 

"Yeah, yeah." Gavin felt his cold cheeks flush, stuffing cold fingers into the pockets of his jacket. "hurry up, I'm freezing." 

The automatic doors opened up for them and Gavin marched inside, grabbing a shopping cart and he was halfway into the store when he realized that Connor wasn't behind him anymore. Thankfully the android hadn't gotten very far, not a step passed the entryway and it looked as if he'd gotten completely distracted by the huge Christmas display that the Target employees had set up. " _Connor._ " 

The android looked at him, LED blinking blue and he smiled, making Gavin squirm on the spot. 

"Let's go, there's a whole fucken store." 

Connor caught up to him easily and Gavin leaned forward against the cart, moving forward slowly as he spoke "We need lights, and a tree-" 

"-And this." 

Glancing to the side, Connor was holding a gaudy green wreath full of red and silver ribbons and balls and Gavin frowned. Where had he even gotten that? "You need a wreath." he really didn't think he did. 

"Yes." the android sounded absolutely sure that he did need it, and well, Gavin hadn't looked over the stuff Hank had already so maybe he did need a wreath. 

"Okay. In the cart." 

In the wreath went. 

Two steps, and Gavin paused. Looking to his left and his right, and Connor was gone. Where the fuck had he gone? Three more steps - Gavin wasn't going to worry too much, Connor was an adult so he should be able to find his way around a fucking Target. Right? 

"Detective-" 

"It's Gavin, christ. Where the hell did you-" he was cut off by a scragly looking Charlie Brown Christmas tree in his face. "Connor-" 

"Gavin. Look at it, it's very cute, right? Minimal branches and with it's size. I think it would look good on the kitchen table. Perhaps with a few colourful baubles. What do you think?" Connor watched him expectantly, brown eyes almost daring him to say no. 

Gavin blinked, looking from Connor to the tree still in his face, then back to Connor. "Uh... Yeah sure I guess?" 

Into the cart the scragly tree went. 

No wonder Hank never took the fucking android shopping. Did this happen all the time? 

This time, Gavin watched Connor flit away down an isle, looking at all of the colourful shit on the shelves until he was out of sight. God he was already exhausted. He pushed the cart down the same isle Connor had disappeared in, and stopped when he found a row of lights. There we go, this was something they actually needed. "Hey, Connor?" the question was, big lights or tiny ones? 

The cart shook a little when Connor stepped up beside him, and Gavin glanced into the basket only to find a few boxes of Christmas balls and fancy tree baubles and at least three different tree toppers. Why did he need three stars? "Connor-" 

"Did you have a question, Gavin?" 

"Oh, uh, the lights. The big ones or the tiny ones?" he pointed at the different kinds and the android looked them over before grabbing three of each kind. "Wait-" that was too much what did they need 600ft of Christmas lights for? 

"Good choices. I'll be right back I believe I found a tree." and Connor was gone again. 

Wait, didn't they have a tree in the cart already? What about the scragly one? "Connor, fucking wait!" 

He found the android in the isle with all of the trees set up and flashing brightly. Connor really had found a tree, the biggest fucking tree in the store. It was at least 9ft tall, but it had the lights already built into it so they could probably get rid of some lights in the cart. Trouble was, that tree was way taller than the ceiling height in Hanks house. 

"It's way too fucking tall." 

"It's absolutely _perfect_."

Obviously they both had different views on what made a good tree. 

"Connor it'll be bent over, the tree is taller than the ceiling." Gavin pointed to another one, similar, but less big and more manageable. "How about this one?" they could at least get this one in the car.

Connor frowned. "But I prefer _this_ one. It's beautiful. The lights are bright and it gives me a good feeling." 

Fuck. Gavin couldn't do it. 

"Okay." 

Connors LED blinked a cheerful blue at Gavin's answer, and he looked at the other tree, the one Gavin had pointed out instead. "We should get this one as well."

"What."

"The large one for the living room, the main attraction. The one everyone will see. The tiny one for the table, and this one, it can be a Sumo tree." Connor brightened instantly and Gavin was suddenly very worried. "I saw dog ornaments in another isle we could have an entire tree for Sumo and keep his presents under it-" 

"Connor what the fuck." 

The android just nodded, mind made up. "I think that's a lovely idea. I'll find someone to assist us with these as they certainly won't fit in the cart." and before anything could be argued, Connor left smiling. 

Gavin's forehead thunked on the handrail of the cart. At least getting help was sensible. The only sensible thing Connor had done since getting into the store. How was all this shit going to fit in Gavin's car? 

The cart shook and when he looked up, Connor was shoving a large box in the space under the cart. Before Gavin could ask, the android stood up, smiling brightly. "They're little potted trees, with soft white lights. They come as a pair and I think they'd look very pretty beside the door." 

More trees. "That four-five. That's five trees Connor." 

"Yes? I'm aware. I can do simple math, Gavin." 

"Oh. Good. I'm glad you're counting. There's 600ft of lights in the cart-" 

"-Look, this Target employee will assist us in bringing the trees to the front of the store."

Gavins eyes shifted from Connor to the android beside him that he hadn't noticed until now, who smiled pleasantly at him. "I already know which you would like to purchase. I'll have them at the front for you when you have finished shopping." 

"Uh... Thanks." 

Connor was already pulling the cart away and Gavin had no choice but to follow him. What the fuck was happening? 

They turned down another isle and the entire collection of, admittedly kinda cute, dog ornaments were added to the cart, along with a singing Christmas labrador retriever that danced when you pinched it's paw. Four dangling bells that Connor insisted where for the door handles, and six rolls of Christmas coloured tinsel managed to also find their way into the overflowing shopping cart. 

How was he getting this shit into his car. Better yet, how had he let this even happen? They came for a single tree and a single roll of Christmas lights, and now they had the entire store in their shopping cart. 

"Connor, we need to put some shit back." 

That stopped the android in his tracks. He turned, frowning, looking as if Gavin had just told him all of Christmas had just been cancelled. "We do?" he sounded absolutely _crushed_ and Gavin felt like a monster for even suggesting it. "But..." Connor sighed, looking over the cart and picking up one of the three tree skirts he'd picked up earlier, each one matching the supposed theme of each full sized tree. "If we must." 

Never in his entire life had Gavin felt like more of an asshole than he did right now. "Well. I mean..." Fuck. He couldn't do it. "I guess it'll be fine? As long as you're having fun..." he was so completely whipped and Gavin had the sneaking suspicion that Connor had figured that out a while ago. 

The smile on Connors face was absolutely mesmerizing though and for a split second this festive hell Gavin had fallen into was worth it. 

"Should we get ornaments for the lawn? I saw some on display over this way." 

"Would Anderson let you have them?" 

"There's a very good possibility Hank would not." 

"Buy two then." 

And that was how they ended up with a blow up Santa and his sleigh pulled by 8 blow up St. Bernard dogs with little Santa hats. Honestly Gavin was impressed that Target even had blow up Christmas St. Bernard's to begin with because that was insane, right? It was fucking crazy, so obviously they had to buy a whole set, and there were 8 reindeer. 

"There's 8 reindeer, right?" 

Connor glanced up from a new Christmas vynel record he was looking over, dropping it into the cart as they made their way up to the registers. "9, if you count Rudolph. Why?" 

Gavin glanced back the way they'd just come from. "Should we get another reindeer-santa-dog? For the set. It has to be legit. We can paint one of their noses red and -" 

Connor laughed at that, pulling the cart to a stop so he could lean against it, watching Gavin curiously. "Are you having fun, Detective Reed?" Connor smiled knowingly and it made Gavin squirm because yeah, he kinda was. 

"No. Fucking of course not. What gave you that idea?" Funny story; Gavin actually _liked_ spending time with Connor outside of the precinct and turning Hanks house into Santa's workshop was an added bonus. Connor just nodded like he believed every word Gavin said and pulled on the cart to get them moving again. 

The checkout was a disaster. Four Christmas tree boxes, 9 boxes for the lawn blow up decorations, 600 feet of Christmas lights (six boxes at 100ft each), and the cashier was pulling shit out of the cart that Gavin hadn't even seen go in. With all the boxes and bags lining up, Gavin really didn't know how he was going to fit everything in his shitty car. He could barely fit a body in his trunk. 

"How are you going to pay for all of this?" 

Connor seemed momentarily frustrated, watching items slide down the registers conveyer belt to be grabbed by the cashier and scaned. "Hank usually pays but-" 

Gavin already had his wallet out "It's fine." Fuck Hank. 

"Gavin thank you, but I have money." 

"I said I got it, alright? Just be happy." 

The last items went through the scanner and the android sales associate totalled up the bill, best customer service smile on as he regarded both Gavin and Connor. "The total tonight comes to 681.89$ How will you be paying?" 

Gavin choked. 

"It's alright, Gavin." 

"I said fuck off." Gavin pointed towards the boxed up Christmas trees "Be useful and go call a cab for that shit." and he handed over his debit card, silently wondering whether this competition with Hank was actually a good idea. 

Too late now, he was committed. 

Loading everything into Gavin's car and the taxi that showed up was like playing Tetris, and Gavin had _never_ been good at that stupid game. Once Gavin got too frustrated with it, Connor took over and fit every last item into both vehicles on his first try, and there was still room for the two of them in the car. Cheeky shit. 

Taking everything out of the two cars was easy and getting it all into the house seemed to take forever. By the time everything was in the living room, Gavin collapsed onto the couch with a loud groan. He was fucking exhausted and it was barely 8. 

"What should we start with?" 

"What?" 

Opening his eyes, Gavin watched Connor wave towards all the boxes and bags littering the living room. "I meant, how should we begin? The trees? Maybe the lights, or perhaps the outdoor ornaments? What do you think?" 

There was no rest for the wicked. Gavin pulled himself slowly off the couch and looked around, trying to decide what project wouldn't take to much energy to complete. The lights would be a hassle, and it was too cold outside for lawn ornaments. "The trees, I guess." he rubbed the back of his neck, nudging the biggest tree box with his foot. 

Connor smiled "Excellent choice!" 

And that's how they ended up unboxing all five Christmas's trees, putting them all together, and discovering that Gavin had been right. The biggest tree was definitely too tall for the living room and the top five inches was bent, curving at the ceiling and hanging down. Connor didn't seem to mind, which was the main thing, right? In fact, when he plugged the big one in and it lit up, even without all the decorations, Connors smile was stunning. He went around and turned all the lights off, then plugged all of the trees in, except for the scraggly one because it didn't have lights, and the living room was bathed in bright lights. Connor was absolutely thrilled. 

"I like this very much. Of course, my first Christmas was special in its own right because it was the first holiday I experienced as a deviant, but this-" Connor smiled and it was brighter than the lights. "-This is perfect."

Gavin would have argued that the naked trees, one half bent over, weren't as perfect as Connor himself was, but he didn't think he'd win that argument so he kept his mouth shut and turned on the living room lights instead. Gavin cleared his throat, catching Connors attention "How about you figure out how to get a tree topper on Bendy here before you decide that it's perfect?" 

Connors smile went from sweet to determined, and he went sorting through all of the many bags of stuff, gathering together the items he'd need to decorate the big tree that Gavin had so thoughtfully named. While Con was busy with the main attraction, Gavin kept himself busy by setting up the two smaller twin trees that he remembered were supposed to go beside the door. There wasn't a lot of room though. 

Maybe the kitchen door? Gavin dragged the two trees into the kitchen and dropped them beside the back door, taking a step back to look but. Eh. That didn't look right either. Gavin pulled the two littlest trees back into the living room and pushed them up against the wall on either side of the hallway. It was marginally better so he plugged the two trees back in to the wall. Yeah that wasn't so bad. 

Bendy didn't quite have a star yet, but it had a red skirt around the base hiding the tree legs, and the big fat st. Bernard had decided that under the tree was a good place to nap. Connor had gotten distracted, and was in the middle of piling on Christmas ball after Christmas ball after Christmas ball onto the tree, no rhyme or reason or order to where he was putting them.

"Woah, hey! What are you doing?" Gavin grabbed the green ball right outta Connors hand before he had the chance to stick it half hazardously into the tree. 

"Decorating?" the crazy thing was that Connor looked confused. Like he didn't understand why Gavin was stoping him. 

"You-" how the fuck did you explain decorating a tree? "-You can't do that." 

Connors brow furrowed, confused. "Why can't I decorate? I was under the assumption that that was the point?" 

"No." it was Gavin's turn to frown. "I mean, you can't just toss all the shit onto the tree. You have to..." how had his mother explained it when he was a kid? "I don't know. Think about it a little? Make it pretty." 

That just seemed to confuse Connor even more. "But, it will be pretty. When I've finished." 

Gavin glanced at the chaos of ornaments in the tree, then handed back the ball he'd confiscated moments ago. "Okay. I'm gonna put that in the kitchen then." so he left the android to his chaos and dragged the fucking dogs tree into the kitchen, moved aside some heavy ass bags of dog food and got the tree set up in the corner. Dog tree, by the dog food. Fucken perfect. 

Connor was still at it when Gavin got back into the living room, so he dropped onto the couch and watched the tree decorating unfold. It wasn't all that bad, because Connor was smiling as he worked, which meant that he was enjoying himself and that was the point of this. Even if the tree ended up being as ugly as a Christmas tree could get, as long as Con was happy with it. 

Connor adding green and red tinsel around the three was the last thing Gavin remembered before nodding off. 

¬°°°|||||||||||°°°¬

Something was vibrating against him and it annoying as fuck. Gavin groaned, rolling over - or tried to but didn't manage to get very far because something heavy was holding him down. In his sleep heavy state, he shrugged it off as a cat. A fat one, and reached around, finding his phone in his pocket and answered it. 

"Th'phhuck you want."

_'Reed.'_

Oh it was Tina. Gavin rubbed his free hand over his face and tried again to move but God that cat needed to go on a diet. "Heeeey, T."

_'I went through all this trouble to bring you breakfast and you're not even home? My hearts broken.'_

"Whdaya mean not home." He hadn't even heard knocking on the fucking door. Gavin tried sitting up, and pushed at the cat to get it off him, only to have a giant drool infested tongue lick his hand and Gavin's breath hitched and he managed to dislodge himself from underneath the st Bernard and crab crawl backwards until the couch ended and he dropped back onto the floor. 

Gavin patted down the floor until he found his dropped phone and held it back up to his ear, staring at the giant dog that was watching him from the couch. He was still in Hank's fucking living room. "Hey, Tina, I'm gonna call you back." and he hung up on her. 

His head thunked back against the floor and Gavin closed his eyes. How'd he fucking fall asleep on the couch in Hanks house, and why the fuck hadn't Connor woken him up? Why the fuck was he sleeping with a _dog_? That was by far the worst offense.

Opening his eyes again, Gavin stared up at the android, who looked very amused. "Good morning, Detective. I didn't want to wake you when I noticed you fell asleep. Did you sleep well?" 

"What time is it?" 

"7:27am. I apologise for not waking you sooner, but we both have to be at the precinct by 8am."

Gavin groaned again, both hands coming up to rub at his face before he pulled himself up off the floor. The giant menace of a dog was stretched across the entire couch now, claiming it and the blanket as his own, tongue loling out of his mouth, full of drool. Then he noticed it.

Connor had finished decorating Bendy the tree sometime after Gavin had zonked out. It was still lit up, and even if it was overflowing with ornaments of all shapes and colours, it was actually pretty nice to look at. "Nice. That's not half bad tin-can. Maybe there's a bit of hope for you yet." 

And Connor just beamed at the compliment. "Thank you. I'm very happy with it, even if it is a bit too tall for the house." 

Gavin huffed out a laugh. "Fucken told you so." 

There wasn't time to run to his apartment for a change of clothes, but he usually had a few extra shirts in his locker at the precinct so all hope wasn't lost. Tina was waiting for him as soon as they got to the station, and it was work as usual from that point on, until just after 2pm. Gavin was going through some last minute paperwork at his desk, minding his own business when-

"-Excuse me, Detective Reed." 

Looking up, Gavin was surprised to find Connor, not that he didn't know what the android sounded like, he just didn't know why he was there. "Yeah?" 

Connor fidgited, playing with something silver in his hands. "I was- I came over here to see.... Would you be interested - hmm..." more fidgeting, and Connor frowned, probably frustrated. 

"Spit it out." 

Connor frowned deeper, thoughts derailed. "Spit... What out?" 

Gavin had to really focus hard to try and not laugh. "Not _literally_. What do you want?"

Back to fidgeting. "Christmas. Did you think you might want to help with the rest of the decorating? There's still a lot to do and I would appreciate your assistance." 

"Assistance?" now Gavin actually laughed. "Connor all I did was chaperone you, badly, because you still bought too much shit." 

Connor went from fidgeting with his silver coin to frowning again. "But it was fun, and you did help, and I appreciate the company." 

"...Alright, I guess I got nothing else to do." 

That was how Gavin ended up back at Hanks house after work (after making a pit stop home so his cats didn't starve). He parked in front of the garage again and found Connor outside with the boxes of lawn ornaments. 

Eight dogs and one Santa. 

Connor had all of them out of their boxes and was staring at the roof when Gavin stood next to him on the front lawn. 

"Should they go on the roof?" 

"I'm _not_ getting on the roof to help you." 

"The ground then." Connor nodded. "That's probably much safer for the sled dogs, anyway." 

Gavin couldn't help but smile just a bit. "Sled dogs?" 

Connor actually rolled his eyes. "We can't call them reindeer so the obvious name is sled dog. Gavin please, you're a Detective."

"And you're a cheeky fucking shithead today! Fucken wow." 

Getting the dogs in order and finding an extension cord long enough to hook them all up ended up being easier than expected. They had five of the eight dogs up and running, and one Santa Claus in a sleigh. Gavin took a step back to the sidewalk to observe, Connor following a few steps behind him. Looking over the yard and the huge display, Gavin couldn't help but laugh. "Hanks gonna _love_ this." 

"Do you think so?" 

"Fuck yeah, he'll be tickled fucken pink. Don't you worry." Gavin reached up, still laughing and rubbed a hand through Connors hair while simultaneously pushing him forward. "Go plug the other two in I wanna see this shit in all its glory." 

Connor did so, and with all eight dogs in a row plus old St. Nick, there wasn't a yard anymore. The display took up pretty much all available space in front of the house, and the only thing missing was lights. Good thing they had 600 fucking feet of them. When Connor stepped back up beside Gavin, the android clasped his hands together, excited. "The lights. We should put the lights up around the house and then it will look perfect."

Gavin nodded, because there was no use arguing about it. The lights were going up whether he wanted to do it or not. "I'll get the ladder." 

Technically there was only 300ft of the bigger lights, and even that was too much. It took an hour to get the lights in place, hammering them in with nails to keep them there so that next year all Connor had to do was plug them in. An hour to wrap the lights around the entire front of the house, around the door, the windows, and then double wrap the windows because there were so many fucking lights. 

An hour, and they were done. That wasn't bad, but this wasn't the first time Gavin had put up Christmas lights. He may not have liked Christmas, but he'd helped Tina and her fiancé with the lights on their place, and Chris had roped Gavin into helping him, not to mention the many times he'd helped his dad when he was younger because God forbid his family keep their lights up all year 'round. 

"Go stand by the road and I'll plug it in, and you tell me what you think. Kay?" 

Nodding, Connor moved to the sidewalk and waited, and as soon as Gavin plugged the lights in, the androids face lit up with them. Slowly, a smile spread across Connors lips and even from the steps of the house, Gavin could see how absolutely enthralled he was with what they'd just done. 

"So?" Gavin walked across the yard, stepping up beside Connor so he could see their handy work too, and fuck. It was definitely bright, and festive and christmasey and everything you'd expect for 300 ft of lights. "We did pretty good if I do say so myself." 

" _Pretty good_?" Connor repeated, glancing at Gavin for a split second before looking back at the lights flashing brightly all over the house. "Gavin, it's stunning." 

It'd be a lie if Gavin said he wasn't proud of this little light project. It did look damn good but the fact that Connor _liked_ it was even better. "Good. I'm actually impressed, I didn't think that many lights would look good but yeah, they kinda do."

Connor was still smiling, so completely focused on the display ahead of him. "Thank you, Gavin. I don't know if I'd have been able to do this myself. I'm really enjoying this." 

"Yeah. Me to." Gavin nudged his shoulder against Connors and started walking towards the door. "Let's go, I'm fucking freezing and we still have the entire inside to do." 

Inside, Connor flung open the curtains on all the windows just so that he'd get the reflection of all the lights from the outside. The trees were all plugged in, and Gavin barely had his jacket and boots off before the android had the last three boxes of lights in his hands.

"Can we put these up next?" 

"Where?" Gavin tossed his jacket over the side of the couch, stepping over Sumo to get to the kitchen. Hopefully Hank had a coffee maker somewhere. 

"All over. We could put them around the kitchen, and- and the hallway! Maybe around the living room." 

Aha - coffee maker. Gavin pulled out the old appliance, looking it over, pulling it open, then started looking for where the coffee was kept. "If you put lights in the living room, it'll take away from Bendy." 

"That's true. Just the kitchen and the hallway, then. What are you looking for?" 

"Coffee." 

Connor opened up one of the cabinets Gavin hadn't checked yet and pulled out a bag of ground coffee beans, handing it over. The coffee went on, Connor set up that new Christmas record he got yesterday, and they went to town on the kitchen. Connor concentrated on decorating the tree with all of the animal ornaments and Gavin was up on a chair stringing brightly blinking lights up around the kitchen. Unlike outside, he couldn't use nails to keep the lights up, so clear packing tape would have to do. 

It worked, and Gavin managed to wrap an entire 100 ft of Christmas lights around any and everything in the kitchen that he could possibly wrap lights around. They went around the ceiling, over top of the fridge, across the back of the counter, around some appliances, back around the ceiling. And the tiny lights blinked cheerfuly the entire time. 

The tree was an abomination of festive canine chaos when Connor was done with it, but it worked, and the stupid dog ornaments were kind of cute. Connor hadn't stopped smiling since they'd started, and Gavin was actually having fun. 

"I think you're getting better at decorating Christmas trees. This one isn't so packed with stuff." 

Connors smile fadded for the first time in hours and he frowned. "I ran out of ornaments." 

" _What_?" Gavin actually stopped making his coffee so he could look at Connor. "Con, we bought at _least_ ten boxes of tree ornaments."

"They're all gone."

" _All of them._ " 

"All of them. Even the old ones Hank had from before we went shopping." 

Gavin laughed at how absurd that was. Leave it to Connor to go through a thousand Christmas balls for only two fucking trees. "You're a Christmas _menace_." And he wouldn't ask Connor to change any of that because it was... A very Connor thing to do. Gavin liked it. Christmas sucked but it really wasn't so bad right now, doing this dumb shit with the android, watching him get excited over bright lights and silly dog ornaments. 

"Here." Gavin grabbed the tree skirt off the kitchen table and tossed it at Connor. "Stop pouting and finish the job. Where's the star?"

Connor pointed it out as he got down on the floor to put the tree skirt on, and the giant dog pulled himself up off the ground, looking more than ready to change his sleeping spot to under this new tree. 

There were two stars left in the living room, but only one tree. 

"See, I knew you grabbed too many. What are you doing with this extra star?" 

Sumo moved under the tree when Connor was done, and the android sat back on his heels, one hand petting the dog while he frowned at Gavin. "What if I want to change things around tomorrow? I need an extra to do that." 

"You don't-" actually that was a good point. "Okay. Touché. So what one today?" 

Gavin held out both stars, watching Connor take his time deciding which one would fit best for the dog-tree. When he finally decided on which one he wanted (for today), Gavin made a point of wrapping the base of the third unused star with some extra tinsel and it was now a centerpiece for the kitchen table, along with a couple silver sparkly reindeer and one fat Santa statue with an open bag. An open bag that Connor promptly filled with tiny little candies. 

Candies that Gavin bet tasted like shit but were 'healthy' 

"Do you want to try one? They're made with Nori, that's dried seaweed-" 

"-Okay yeah no that's cool I'm good thanks" Gavin grabbed his cup of coffee and left for the living room. Connor followed him and before the android could keep pestering him about some healthy candy, Gavin handed him a handful of hanging bells for the doorknobs. "Go, jingle up the doors." 

The lights in the hallway ended up going around the ceiling, around all the door frames and around the ceiling again before Gavin reached the end of the hundred feet, but it looked nice. Bright, but nice. He returned the chair to the kitchen, and dropped onto the couch, stretching out from on end to the other, completely done with all things Christmas. It had been fun, but now he was once again completely and totally exhausted. 

The vynel record was restarted, and Connor nudged at Gavin's feet to get them off the couch, and when he moved them, the android sat down, promptly returning Gavin's legs across his lap. 

"I made you more coffee." 

"Thanks." 

The house was quiet, but bright with all the blinking lights and trees, the soft Christmas carols playing in the background and Gavin was at risk of falling asleep again if Connor hadn't decided to talk. 

"You know. I was very surprised by your offer to help." 

"Mmmhmmm. It's depressing to watch you be depressed, Tin-Can. 'Specially cuz of Hank. No one should be depressed because of Hank." 

"Well. Whatever the reason was for your offer, I'm glad you came to help. It... It was a lot of fun. I'm almost sad it's over." Connor frowned, hands resting overtop of Gavin's out-stretched legs. "I _am_ sad that it's over."

Gavin laughed. "Hank'll be back soon and you can be festive with him again so you won't need me hanging around." it was stupid but he was pretty bitter about that; Hank coming back and Connor lavishing the old man with attention. Ugh. 

"Yes."

Silence. 

Gavin opened his eyes and watched Connors LED spin yellow over and over again. 

"Whats the matter?" 

"Nothing." 

"What a fucken lier. Your mood rings like, hazard yellow right now." 

Connor frowned, hands gripping onto the fabric of Gavin's jeans. "I'm just... Thinking... How much I've started to enjoy your company, and it would be tragic if we returned to work and continued to not really speak, like before."

Gavin grinned without meaning to. "Yeah? You know what?" 

"What?" 

"I think I'd like it if we talked more, too." 

For the first time since he sat down, Connor looked at Gavin, and he smiled again and the android was stunning without even knowing it. "I'm really glad. Maybe-" 

They heard him before they saw him, a loud, confused "What the fuck?" from outside the house. 

Gavin laughed "Looks like Anderson made it home for Christmas."

Hank opened the front door already cursing. "Connor what the fuck is that outside? What the hell did you-" he dropped his bag, shaking the snow out of his hair, and frowned, staring at the couch. Neither Gavin or Connor had moved. "What was wrong with all of _my_ Christmas stuff?" 

"The lights were a fire hazard-"   
"-everything was from 1812."

"So you went out and bought an entire Christmas store and set it up inside my house?" Hank shucked off his jacket and hung it up, crossing his arms as he watched the two on the couch. 

Gavin grinned. "And outside your house." he was proud of Santa and his team of sled dogs, okay. 

"Hank, do you like the tree?"  
"His names Bendy."

"You named the fucking Christmas tree..." Hank sighed, stepped into the house, trying to look at everything that had been set up, groaning when he found the second tree in the kitchen. "I should have known. Fucking perfect for each other. Look at this. It's a fucking dog tree."

Hank kept mumbling to himself and Gavin took that as an opportunity to get up. If he didn't go home, Gil would actually murder him while he slept. "Well, now that Andersons back, I'm going home." 

Connors LED went from blue to yellow to blue before he stood up as well. "Alright. Thank you again." 

Grabbing his coat, Gavin stopped at the door to pull his boots on, but before he could get out the door, Connor pulled him back by the arm. 

"Before you go-" 

Connors eyes flicked up for just a second, but long enough for Gavin to notice and glance up as well. Hanging in the middle of the doorframe was a clump of green and red. "Is that-" 

He didn't have a chance to actually ask, because Connors lips touched his cheek and instantly Gavin's whole face was about as red as any of the Christmas decorations they'd set up in the house. 

"You should come over again, Gavin, for actual Christmas this time. Please?" 

"Okay." because who could honestly say no to that?


End file.
